Quitting Your Fandom

[Ennder]

Huh. That's a very interesting take, as most people I talk to about it think that football has it perfect

 

Most people disagree about most things so that is a bad argument in general. But again I'm not going to go into too much detail because it never solves much and it will completely derail the thread. We can just leave it as I like the idea of making things more balanced, I don't like a hardcore salary cap that every team lives at. There are a bunch of different ways to balance the economy of the league and I prefer something different than a static hardcore salary cap.

[reillymcshane]

I have 40 years of following the Brewers and have never lost interest, no matter how bad they have been. And they have been bad. Strikes have been the worst thing for me. I just get frustrated by millionaires and billionaires fighting over gobs and gobs of money.

 

The Brewers leaving Milwaukee would probably not kill baseball for me. But the Crew have been my team for so long, I don't really know how I'd react.

 

I know my club is going to struggle at times, and I can accept that. Being the 30th sized market (or whatever we are) is just going to limit us. I just hope ownership and management are smart and minimize the down times.

[Phenomenal Smith]

If Czar Selig sends the Astros to the AL, I'm done with MLB.

[nate82]

If Czar Selig sends the Astros to the AL, I'm done with MLB.

Why? Everyone has been crying for someone to go back to the AL and have 5 teams in the AL West instead of the 4 right now.

[Phenomenal Smith]

Then send the Brewers back to the AL.

[nate82]

Then send the Brewers back to the AL.

 

 

 

Then who goes to the AL West? Plus it is not only Selig asking for this. Other owners are also asking for this.

[Invader3K]

Then send the Brewers back to the AL.

Yeah...look at geography and get back to us on this idea.

[jeffy]

Then send the Brewers back to the AL.

Yeah...look at geography and get back to us on this idea.

 

Uh...it is certainly a workable (if frightening) plan, Brewers to AL central, KC to AL west.

 

I could certainly see folks in Houston saying, "why should we move rather than the team that only joined the NL in 1997?"

[Invader3K]

Uh...it is certainly a workable (if frightening) plan, Brewers to AL central, KC to AL west.

I could certainly see folks in Houston saying, "why should we move rather than the team that only joined the NL in 1997?"

OK, but Smith didn't say anything like that. If you want to talk about moving the Brewers and also then moving another team...why not just have the one team move that makes the most sense? The Astros are in a six team division, and have no natural rivalry with any of those teams. Moving them to the four team AL West and giving them an in-state opponent in the form of the Rangers makes the most sense, I would think.

[Phenomenal Smith]

Then send the Brewers back to the AL.

Yeah...look at geography and get back to us on this idea.

Arizona is closer to the rest of the AL West than the Astros are.

[Phenomenal Smith]

Then send the Brewers back to the AL.

Yeah...look at geography and get back to us on this idea.

 

Uh...it is certainly a workable (if frightening) plan, Brewers to AL central, KC to AL west.

 

I could certainly see folks in Houston saying, "why should we move rather than the team that only joined the NL in 1997?"

This.The Astros have been in the NL since 1962 and before that the minor league Buffs were a Cardinals farm team from 1921-58.

[Phenomenal Smith]

OK, but Smith didn't say anything like that. If you want to talk about moving the Brewers and also then moving another team...why not just have the one team move that makes the most sense? The Astros are in a six team division, and have no natural rivalry with any of those teams. Moving them to the four team AL West and giving them an in-state opponent in the form of the Rangers makes the most sense, I would think.

As someone else wrote, there are only three rivalries in baseball.

[brwrsfan]

Then send the Brewers back to the AL.

Yeah...look at geography and get back to us on this idea.

Arizona is closer to the rest of the AL West than the Astros are.

 

Sure, Arizona would make sense, moving to the AL West. But then you have to move Houston to the NL West anyway. Now you're moving two teams instead of just one. Plus, Houston in the AL West gives them the games against the Rangers, so there is that bonus. Arizona has nothing like that in either divison, nor will they ever unless Vegas gets a team some day.

[jeffy]

Sure, Arizona would make sense, moving to the AL West. But then you have to move Houston to the NL West anyway.

 

 

Which is why a fan of Houston should be expected to propose moving the Brewers, then Houston stays in the NL central. Were I an Astros fan, I'd feel the same way..."boot the newcomers and leave my team alone".

 

Another, more complicated option that moves a newcomer to the AL would be FL/Miami to the AL east, Pittsburgh to NL east, Toronto to AL central, KC to AL west.

 

The only reason there is this issue over who to move to the AL is that MLB stupidly decided in 1997 that having the current arrangement was preferable to having interleague all season (oh, the horror). Also interesting is that the Brewers are only in the NL because KC declined the opportunity, think of where we'd be if they had taken it...would the powers that be be saying Houston should move or that KC should now go back to the AL?

[monty57]

Decided to answer this question by thinking back to why I'm not a big Bucks fan anymore, or NBA fan in general. Huge fan back in the Moncrief, Bridgeman, Lanier days. I guess the NBA lost me for 3 reasons. 1) Officiating. Star treatment, traveling not called, etc. 2) Players attitude. Players now determine if a coach stays or goes, negotiate for minutes, play hard when they want, or don't if they want out, etc, etc. 3) The game changed. Good fundamental basketball is gone. Flying into the lane and getting a foul called (if you're a star), pumping up 3 pointers, and fast break. That be be entertaining, but it's not basketall the way I grew up playing it and watching it.

 

NFL. They almost lost me too. However, I've remained a fan because the players are still intense and want to win and 99% give it all. Watch a 2-12 team play, and they're still trying to play their very best. However, more rule changes to pump up points started getting on my nerves big time. A DB barely touches a WR and it's an automatic 1st down. Pass rusher grazes a QB's helmut....1st down. Only week one, but they didn't appear to call things quite so closely this year.

 

That's an interesting take on the subject, and I feel pretty much the same. It seems some of the sports marketing geniuses decided that "core" fans would never leave, and the only way to get new fans was to change the rules to increase scoring. It wasn't too difficult for me to stop watching basketball, even though I used to follow the Bucks. Like you, I almost stopped watching football but they seemed to ease up on the pass-interference-on-every-play mentality, as they probably realized they were losing fans.

 

Baseball could probably do something similar by switching to aluminum bats or making the pitchers throw off flat ground. If they made some rules changes which caused every game to be a 20-18 slugfest, I'd probably just walk to the nearest softball park where the beer's cheaper.

[Phenomenal Smith]

Yeah...look at geography and get back to us on this idea.

Arizona is closer to the rest of the AL West than the Astros are.

 

Sure, Arizona would make sense, moving to the AL West. But then you have to move Houston to the NL West anyway. Now you're moving two teams instead of just one. Plus, Houston in the AL West gives them the games against the Rangers, so there is that bonus. Arizona has nothing like that in either divison, nor will they ever unless Vegas gets a team some day.

That's not a bonus to me. I don't give a crap about the Rangers. I'm fine with moving to the NL West.

[Funketown]

The following is an exhaustive list for me:

 

1) Another 40 years wandering the basement of the NL Central.

2) Mark Attanasio shows up at my door, asks to borrow my dog, and proceeds to run him over.

 

That is all. I'll be annoyed if/when the DH comes, and I'll be annoyed if the Cubs decide they like winning, but neither of those things will shake my fandom.

[JimH5]

I don't think I'd ever be willing to give up my fandom. I had a season ticket package during the late '90s, when the team was mostly terrible.

 

Even then, I'd enjoy going to games to see visiting superstars, to eat a polish sausage, and to have an evening out.

 

There was no way that the Ricky Bones teams were going to compete for anything. But it was still a fun time cheering for my hometown team.

[GAME05]

what's also been getting to me is the subtle defeatest attitude of Brewers fans and fans of the have-not teams in general. more specifically, it bugs me that they're probably right. at the beginning of each year, Red Sox fans talk about whether or not they've bought themselves a Pennant-winning club. it's almost laughable to imagine a Yankees fan thinking "I wonder if we'll make the Playoffs this year." and unless you already know you're going to have a terrible season, that's the way it should be. maybe a lot of the attitude of the have-not fans comes from rare playoff appearances, but it really feels sometimes like fans treat the pinnacle of Milwaukee Brewers success as winning a playoff series, like a World Series Championship is so out of reach that it's not even conceivable.

 

i don't say this to mean that fans just aren't positive enough, just that it's sad that the state of baseball has turned so many millions of fans into cheering for an also-ran finish as if it's the only realistic goal. it's as if the World Series just isn't for us anymore, but reserved for the elite few. that isn't good enough for me.

 

as it is now, many of us talk about how the appropriate GM strategy for a small-market team is to accept six (or so) years of 90+ losses to collect top draft picks to then have maybe a two-year window for a playoff appearance. it's tough when i think that's probably right.

 

i haven't quite reached the point where i've fully accepted that the Brewers can't win a World Series. teams like the Giants give me some hope. but once i completely accept that the Brewers will never win a World Series in my lifetime, then i'll be gone.

[JumpinMacFlash]

I could never see myself not being a Brewers fan. I've followed the team way too closely for most of my life, and I just find every aspect of baseball too interesting, whether it's the major league team, the minors, roster make-up, offseason moves...doesn't matter. I want to see prolonged success, but I won't run away from prolonged failure. If there was another work stoppage, I would come back (probably wouldn't do that for the other leagues, sorry NBA).

 

I have discovered lately that there are things that would make me pay less attention. My son is a year old tomorrow, and we're expecting another child. During this year with the best Brewers team I've seen, I've probably watched fewer games than I have in the last decade. Walks, play time, and bath time are much more entertaining. He doesn't enjoy the TV and doesn't stay still long enough to sit with me. I certainly hope that as he and our second child get older they like baseball as much as me (much to his mother's chagrin) and want to watch, follow, and play baseball, but if they didn't I could deal with that. If they had other interests, I could easily see myself paying less and less attention, but never fully abandoning my Brewers fandom.

[CheezWizHed]

If TLR became the commissioner, I might be done with MLB in general... but I'd probably still go to the occasional Brewer game and untuck my shirt...

[brwrsfan]

I could never see myself not being a Brewers fan. I've followed the team way too closely for most of my life, and I just find every aspect of baseball too interesting, whether it's the major league team, the minors, roster make-up, offseason moves...doesn't matter. I want to see prolonged success, but I won't run away from prolonged failure. If there was another work stoppage, I would come back (probably wouldn't do that for the other leagues, sorry NBA).

 

I have discovered lately that there are things that would make me pay less attention. My son is a year old tomorrow, and we're expecting another child. During this year with the best Brewers team I've seen, I've probably watched fewer games than I have in the last decade. Walks, play time, and bath time are much more entertaining. He doesn't enjoy the TV and doesn't stay still long enough to sit with me. I certainly hope that as he and our second child get older they like baseball as much as me (much to his mother's chagrin) and want to watch, follow, and play baseball, but if they didn't I could deal with that. If they had other interests, I could easily see myself paying less and less attention, but never fully abandoning my Brewers fandom.

I'm in this same boat. I have a recently turned 1 year old daughter and even though I try to still catch games, sometimes I don't or I have to join them mid-game and whatnot. I know as she gets older and we potentially have another kid, this is going to change. Which is fine. That's obviously more important than baseball but I can see it cutting into my "fandom"

 

 

[ilovebeer]

I have all ready lost some interest, when or if they blow this I am not sure if I will be the die hard i was .Now i stay home and watch every game, not sure that will happen next season. Also I will not get overly excited about this team until they clinch a playoff spot. I think next season they will have a hard time drawing fans when or if they blow this.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I have all ready lost some interest, when or if they blow this I am not sure if I will be the die hard i was .Now i stay home and watch every game, not sure that will happen next season. Also I will not get overly excited about this team until they clinch a playoff spot. I think next season they will have a hard time drawing fans when or if they blow this.

That's my biggest concern right now, what repercussions would an EPIC collapse have on ticket sales? I am already getting tired of hearing my very casual baseball fan friends saying garbage like "yup, same old Brewers".

[cnycerveceros]

I'd have to say that if they do collapse this year, I'd probably be done. Why would I post this here as it makes me seem like a terrible fan, which I might be? Because BF.net over the last 7 years or so has made me a bigger and more knowledgeable fan than I ever was for the 20 or so years before that. What I've found is that I've become someone who really enjoys 'following' baseball, and the Brewers in particular, but that I've really lost interest in actually watching the games. Maybe that's not as odd as I think it is, but I rarely watch more than a few innings, and only once or twice a week.

 

So, why would I stop doing these things if the Brewers collapse? Because of the reasons GAME05 so eloquently articulated above. Each game is unique, and I continue to see things I've never seen, which I think is great. However, for the last 15 years or so, every season has been essentially the same story, and I think it's pathetic that I feel privileged to be a Brewer fan rather than a Pirate fan, or a Royals fan, or a fan of so many other teams with no chance in the foreseeable future. The Brewers are going to lose Prince, in order to make a run they have to obliterate the farm system (even if it is better than many experts say it is), and then that run hamstrings them for who knows how many years. Why 'follow' something that is the same year after year? This is where I'm at, and I'm sure there are good responses to that question.

 

I absolutely enjoy watching Ryan Braun, but for me it's more a metaphor for wasted talent than it is one of fighting against the odds. That's because of my basic pessimism, but I hate that baseball, and really sports in general, accentuates that part of my personality. As a matter of personal sanity, then, I'd have to become even more detached from any one team, and my team happens to be the Brewers.

 

In its place, I'll continue to attend games of my local minor league clubs, because there I get what I like more about baseball: the unpredictability of any one game, of any particular pitch, and the chance to watch it while enjoying the weather and not particularly caring about the cumulative season.